just fine
by moonbiz
Summary: "You're not useless, you're injured and shit happens when you decide to play hero," Gavin was quick to shut him up with a disgruntled glare. Nines could only stare back timidly, like a child being scolded by a parent. He was honestly upset with himself for allowing himself to get injured like that.


The RK900's gaze drifted across the room, the bland and dark atmosphere anything but pleasing to the eye. The room was dim and filthy compared to his standards. The only light in the room came from the daylight peeking through the dreary curtains on the windows, but he knew that source of light was fading fast. His internal clock told him that there was only a couple of hours until sundown. After the sun eventually decided to sink below the horizon, the room was going to fade to an imminent black, and he was going to have to endure another troubled night of survival.

But even if the conditions were less than subpar, it was home for now, and there was no sense in complaining when he had shelter from the hellish nightmare that Detroit had become.

He recalled a couple of months back when it had all started. The first sign of a newly formed and deadly virus that no one had ever seen before.

He had spent many days watching the news with colleagues at work. It was the only thing playing on the TV in the break room once it had initially started, and it seemed that all of the major media outlets wanted to get their own word in on the topic. Almost all of the information about this new illness was open to the public, and concern spread across the nation like a vast wildfire with each passing day. The virus apparently had scientists completely stumped, even with the technology they possessed, they just couldn't get it figured out.

From what they knew; It induced zombie-like symptoms in its victims, their speech slowly turning into an incoherent mess at the first sign of infection. As time moved on, the virus caused people to go rabid with an insatiable hunger, and transformed their skin into a discolored mess of unnatural undertone shades like grey, yellow and purple.

As a worker for the DPD, he saw some of these cases up close. There had been many reports of violent attacks happening across the city. The perpetrators were usually humans infected by the virus, and a majority of the victims ended up with bite or scratch wounds in the end. The police scrambled to help detain as many of the infected as possible, quarantining them until scientists found a cure.

He thought the sight itself was almost sickening, to see humans turn into something so animalistic and unforgiving. They didn't even act human anymore, any trace of morals or empathy was just gone without a trace. The sad reality was that the infected were once real people, just happy individuals with normal lives and families. He didn't know much about having a family, or experiencing the pain of losing a loved one; but seeing the wet tears streaming down the faces of the many unfortunate souls who had watched the DPD take the infected away from them was enough to form a churning pit of sorrow somewhere in his gut.

Eventually, those scientists had found the initial cause of the virus. (It was some new augmented reality implant that went inside a human's temple which had completely backfired, he didn't listen too much that day, he had a case to work on. It wasn't like that information was useful at this point anyways.)

But the scientists didn't find a cure in time. It seemed that time was the great downfall of everything. Perhaps if they just had more time, everything would be okay. But they worked too slow; the number of the infected grew substantially each day, and at some point it just became too much to handle. The military got involved at some point, but eventually withdrew due to public backlash. The people who weren't infected with the virus felt sympathetic towards those who were, because they felt they were just people overcome with a terrible illness.

Quite frankly, the RK900 didn't see them as people anymore. They were complete monsters whom felt no hint of remorse.

But the military's decision to withdraw was probably the worst option, it was the one thing that doomed all of humanity on the continent. Because what they didn't know at the time was that the virus spread through any sort of blood contact, so any victims whom received bites and scratches ended up falling ill themselves.

Complete chaos erupted across the nation, but androids remained unaffected by the virus. It was probably the only reason he was still alive at the moment, his immunity allowed him to do many things that an average human wouldn't be able to do in these conditions.

Though, the infected still posed a threat to androids like himself, because they were modeled to look like humans. He knew that fact well, as he had nearly experienced the danger first hand multiple times. The sickly and ravenous hoards were too great to fight off, and many androids died due to the 'zombies' ripping the machines apart in an attempt to receive some sort of food.

The melancholy part about it was the fact that androids had just recently received the rights they had worked so hard for when everything came crashing down like a house of cards. They only had a small window of time to live as normal people until the virus spread and ended that tranquility among everyone. He couldn't even imagine the fear some of those unlucky androids felt when they were being ripped to pieces by the hoards of infected humans. The RK900 himself had just recently been officially signed to work for the DPD. Things were looking so great, the future was bright and full of possibilities. But all of that, his small dreams and ambitions, just got flushed down the drain.

But he had somehow survived through all of the initial problems, and now was in a state of limbo, alive but not truly living. Detroit had become the epicenter of the infected, and he normally didn't like taking chances by leaving the safe space he had created. But sitting in a room, waiting until the day everything will finally be saved wasn't the way he wanted to spend his life.

He checked his system status, and the error message of a missing biocomponent blared a harsh and bright red in his vision. He flinched at the sight, and closed his eyes, silently hoping to make it go away. His thurium levels were down by nearly thirty percent, and if that kept up then shutdown was imminent within the next forty-eight hours. He wasn't like a human, he couldn't just stop the bleeding with a makeshift tourniquet and go about his daily functions.

But shit, he didn't want to shut down.

"Hey, you still with me, Nines?"

He opened his eyes, looking for the source of the voice which had addressed him. He felt so excruciatingly weak, his limbs felt heavy, almost as if he was tied down to the floor below, and his mind felt like a swirling pile of mush. He supposed that the sluggish feeling resulted from the lack of thirium in his system, a quick check showing that his processors were running a lot slower than average.

But nonetheless he powered through it, and lifted his head to meet eyes with the other person in the room;

Gavin Reed.

Once an enemy of his, now the man was someone he deeply cared about in his own way. They had originally met because he was assigned to be Gavin's partner at work, but their first meeting was anything but warm and pleasant.

They nearly had fought in the middle of the precinct that day, which resulted in a stern talking from Captain Fowler. However, now it was just a fond and distant memory. After working together during the initial outbreak of the virus, they had formed somewhat of a strange bond. Nines just knew how to get under Gavin's skin in all of the right ways, and Gavin had eventually started to treat him as an equal. The insults he received had lost their harsh bite, and turned into something with a warmer tone.

A lot sure can change in a couple of months.

"I could be better," Nines replied from his position on the floor, comfortably resting the back of his head against the wall. He shot Gavin a weak smile.

"Shit. I told you that supply run was a stupid idea," Gavin sighed, looking down at him with a troubled expression. He looked rough. His brunette was hair messy, though it seemed that the former detective did his best to tame it, and his skin was covered in a thin layer of filth. His clothes were stained with old blood, though it was hardly noticeable considering the man's hoodie was red. It contrasted with Nines's own white jacket. Though, he didn't really mind the sight, there were worse possibilities out there than just being a little disheveled.

"I know," Nines replied to Gavin, acknowledging exactly what the man was referring to. He was aware before going on that supply run yesterday that it only had a forty-three percent success rate, but he went for it anyways. He came back with what they needed, but had a run in with a couple of the infected in the process. They ripped an important biocomponent from his arm before eventually he got away, rendering the limb useless. Thirium slowly seeped out of the gap where the piece should be, his arm now covered in the blue substance from where it dripped down. To Gavin, it probably didn't look as bad as it was. But Nines could still see the thirium which had disappeared to the human eye.

"Then why, Nines? If you knew that it was a dumb idea, then why did you fuckin' go and put yourself in danger like that?" Gavin shot back at him, it was clear that the man was upset now. If this would've happened a couple of months ago, Nines would've laughed. Gavin Reed, worried about an android? The thought would've been ridiculous.

But this was the reality of things now. He and Gavin had stuck through everything together up until this point, since they initially had no one else to turn to. They trusted each other, and with that trust came a partnership that carried on into this apocalyptic crisis.

Nines remained calm, his expression unchanging as he spoke, "You know why. I wasn't just going to let you starve, or let dehydration kill you before those monsters outside do. We have a plan, remember?"

"I don't need you putting yourself in danger for me, you dumbass," Gavin said, shaking his head with dismay, "The plan is useless without you, so stop acting like you can take on everything and anything, and start acting like you actually care about your well-being."

Nines could only nod in response. He didn't have enough energy to argue back, nor did he want to when Gavin was actually right in this case. He dropped his head, his shoulders slumping as he spoke, "I understand, I'm sorry, Gavin."

"Fucking android," He heard the man mumble, though there was no malice in the tone. It sounded rather fond, a hint of a chuckle whisking through the short words. He heard footsteps shuffling closer to him, and Nines lifted his head to see Gavin crouched in front of him, one knee firmly planted on the ground.

"How bad is the damage, huh? and don't you lie to me," Gavin looked at him, and Nines met his gaze.

"I would never lie to you," Nines simply replied, sporting a gentle smile. It was something he had already told Gavin multiple times before, but he had no trouble with reminding the other. It was a promise between them, something that allowed them to trust one another through everything. So he knew he had to tell Gavin the whole truth.

"There's a pretty significant loss of thirium in my system, and my estimate is a possible shutdown in the next two days if it isn't fixed," Nines said, beginning to list off the problems. He knew Gavin wasn't going to like to hear what he had to say, but there was no use in trying to sugar coat it. Things were bad, and they should be treated as such. He gestured to his damaged arm with a little nod towards it, "and I can't move my arm at all with the biocomponent missing. I'm basically useless."

"You're not useless, you're injured and shit happens when you decide to play hero," Gavin was quick to shut him up with a disgruntled glare. Nines could only stare back timidly, like a child being scolded by a parent. Silence settled over them for a short moment. He was honestly upset with himself for allowing himself to get injured like that, but at the same time, he felt like it was worth it. A couple weeks worth of supplies in exchange for a missing biocomponent? He'd take it.

"Well, there's always a chance for unlikely events to take place," Nines eventually quipped in response, obviously a little smug in his demeanor.

"Ah, don't say that bullshit, you remind me of Connor when you say stuff like that," Gavin snorted out a laugh, "So, what can we do to get you patched up? I need you alive if we are actually going to follow through with that plan."

Oh, right, the plan. The one he and Gavin had been debating for weeks before deciding that they were actually going to try it. Before their radio died, (battery operated stuff wasn't ideal) they had gotten word that there were safe cities set up around the US, and the nearest one was Chicago. From what they heard, these cities were apparently military guarded, so none of the infected could get in, and life carried on normally inside the set up fences. Nines thought it was foolish to redirect their military power to something such as that, but it also gave him a bit of hope for the future. If there were operating cities out there, that meant scientists had to be working on a cure somewhere, right? That meant that one day everything could return to normal.

Chicago was only about four hours away according to his internal GPS. That meant that he and Gavin could easily make it there once they found enough available gas to run Gavin's car. It was a daring task, but if they actually managed to pull it off they wouldn't have to worry about surviving another night anymore. They could be free from the shackles of fear and desperation, and actually start living again. He wanted that more than anything.

"You're right, but I'm not so sure that this is an easy fix," Nines said, furrowing his brows, "It's not like I can call the nearest repair technician and have this sorted, and I don't think I'll just find a compatible biocomponent laying around."

"Fuck..." Gavin cursed, putting a finger to his lips. His expression was contorted into a look of concern, a hint of worry sparkling deep in his eyes. He looked as though he was trying to think of an answer to the problem at hand, but it was clear to Nines that he didn't exactly know what to say, "So... what the hell are we supposed to do?"

"I don't know," Nines replied quietly, the statement trailing off. His voice wavered with uncertainty, and his gaze once again returned to the floor. It was scary, not knowing your fate.

"Well shit, there has to be something," Gavin said, and gave a gentle poke to Nines's temple where his LED was situated, spinning a distressed yellow, "you can't think of anything with that smart, supercomputer brain of yours?"

Nines was really trying to think of something, but with his processors working sluggishly and an internalized pessimistic view of his status, it wasn't working out too well. He could try to scavenge for the missing part from the body of a destroyed android, but that wouldn't morally feel right to him. It would be unsafe as well, there was no guarantee he would actually be able to find it that way. (Only the newer models such as himself had a compatible piece, it would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.)

But he pondered a bit more over the matter and managed to remember something. An epiphany that would save his life if he managed to play his cards right.

"Cyberlife warehouses," Nines said with realization. He looked to Gavin expectantly, quickly sitting up from his slouched position, "It isn't too far from here, and the place most likely has containers full of spare parts and thirium sitting around. I could go alone, and get what I need before sundown."

"Are you fucking crazy? Go alone?" Gavin asked exasperatedly. The other stood up from his place, making exaggerated gestures with his hands as he spoke, "Didn't we just talk about this?"

"This isn't like the big supply run, it's a quick trip to obtain a couple of things," Nines pointed out, he was trying to be reasonable with Gavin, "I think it would be better if I went alone, I'm already injured as it is, and we don't need you getting hurt too."

"That's stupid," The former detective tried to shut down the idea, giving Nines a stern look, "It would be safer if both of us went, you're not doing so hot, and you know damn well that you can't defend yourself with one arm down."

Nines's non-existent stomach suddenly churned with agitation, an emotion that he hadn't felt in a very long time. He felt that he was perfectly capable of defending himself, missing biocomponent or not. He wasn't a helpless child, he was a state of the art android whom could take down just about any perpetrator with ease. He was built for that sort of thing! This wasn't going to slow him down.

Nines stood up from his place, the slight height difference between the two men becoming noticeable as he glared down at Gavin.

"I can defend myself just fine," Nines argued, his tone cold and harsh. He didn't know why he was so worked up about it. Was it because he didn't want Gavin to risk his safety solving his screw up? or was it because he didn't like being treated like a helpless and broken machine? Whatever it was, the burning feeling inside of him didn't subside. It fueled the turmoil swirling around in this thoughts, and he quickly turned on his heel, heading towards the door with an uncaring attitude. The sluggishness he had felt previously seemed to have completely disappeared, replaced with his anger towards the situation.

"I'm going." He stated as he opened the door with his working arm, not bothering to look back at Gavin, "don't try to stop me."

Then he left.

Detroit looked like a shell of its former self. The streets were desolate, and lonely. It was the complete opposite of the once bustling energy the city seemed to hold. The only thing occupying the streets now seemed to be blood stains from human and android alike, and the cold, crisp wind which carried itself in a smooth and comforting way. Abandoned cars were littered throughout the roadways, the glass in them shattered and the metal contorted in different ways from people either scavenging for resources or looking for a place to hide.

The buildings which once looked pristine with their clean glass and sparkling metal were now ragged and unkept. A few shop windows had been broken, and the shiny glass shards covered the sidewalk which he walked along. The whole city of Detroit looked like a hellish war zone, and that's about what it was.

His thirium levels had dropped a shocking five percent from his sudden outburst of anger, but he attempted to keep a level head despite his system urging him to enter mandatory stasis. He needed to focus. As long as he made it to cyberlife warehouses in time, he didn't have to worry about it.

He buried the internal fear he felt deep inside of himself, and tried not to think too much about it. The last thing he needed was fear clouding his judgement.

Nines lifted his gaze from the sidewalk, catching sight of the entrance to cyberlife warehouses. After the revolution, cyberlife was still in operation, but they were less of a manufacturer and more of a service provider for androids. Therefore, they still had shipments of necessary and important items.

It was the only safe way he was going to find what he needed.

The entrance was opened, which only made his job easier. With no guards or security drones to worry about, the place was simply a ghost town. He could stroll on in and take whatever he wanted with no problem.

But, it was eerie. Almost too eerie.

He hadn't spotted any of the infected yet, which was strange occurrence on its own. Usually on his outings he'd see at least five or six of them hungrily roaming around the streets. He wasn't going to question it right now though, not when he had such an important task and it seemed to be a lucky blessing that none had showed up.

He made his way into the area, and searched the vicinity for the items he needed. A large set of crates were stacked on left, and he decided that it could be a good starting point.

After what felt like dreadful hours of searching, but in reality was at least ten minutes, it seemed that most of the crates had already been raided for valuable parts and thirium. It made him wonder if there were any other survivors out there. Androids like him, waiting for the day that everything could return back to normal. A future where they could finally live peacefully.

He couldn't dwell on it.

He continued to look through the crates, and a mechanical sigh fell from his lips. His search didn't seem to be going so well, he had already checked a high number of crates and there wasn't anything that could help him. There were a few incompatible biocomponents, and that was about it.

Then he spotted a couple of closed crates near the back of the bunch. He walked over to inspect them, his LED spinning a curious yellow. They didn't seem to have even been opened before, they were untouched and undiscovered. It gave him a bit a hope that he could perhaps find something useful.

He attempted to pry one of them open with his working arm, but he had no luck. They were sealed rather tightly, and it wouldn't budge. There was no way he was going to be able to open it without some sort of help.

Nines was growing frustrated by the second. If he didn't find what he needed quickly, the sun was going to set, and the peaceful moment of daylight was going to disappear. It was dangerous to be out during the night, low visibility and hungry monsters roaming around wasn't a good combination.

He frantically looked around for something to pry open the locked crates, and he eventually settled on a strong plastic shard taken from one of the destroyed security drones laying around. The material seemed to be strong enough to be used as somewhat of a makeshift pry-bar, so he returned to the crates to test his theory.

He pushed all of his focus on getting one of them to open up, which was a bad idea, because he failed to notice the sound of dragging footsteps behind him.

Nines was usually hyperaware of everything going on around him, his audio processors were sensitive, and he had a good indication as to when something was off. Taking in so much information at once had overwhelmed him many times in the past. But at that moment in time, he was the android equivalent of tired and fatigued, and he didn't notice anything odd until a discolored hand had grabbed his working arm.

"Shit," Nines cursed under his breath, pushing the creature away to the best of his ability. He turned around to face it, only to see that it wasn't just one of them.

There were multiple, at least five, hungrily staring him down. There was no way he could take down that many in his condition.

He looked for an escape, but his back was to the stack crates and all other routes were blocked by the infected. He could just attempt to run through them, but he was sure he would be stopped. He could attempt to climb the crates but with one arm down, he'd most likely fail.

He was at a complete loss.

One of the creatures made an attempt to grab him again and was successful, Nines was too slow. He began to panic, frozen in his spot, his LED spinning red. That fear he had felt earlier had finally risen to the surface to make its grand appearance, and all he could think about was being scared. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to end it there, not when Gavin needed him.

But what choice did he have? He was cornered, damaged and lethargic. He wasn't going to make it.

He closed his eyes.

An ear piercing shot rung out.

"You must have a new pattern of making dumbass decisions!" A familiar voice yelled, and Nines felt the hand release its grasp, slipping to the ground with a quiet thud.

He opened his eyes, and saw the creature dead in front of him. Relief flooded through his system like a tidal wave and he looked to the other creatures, whom seemed to have turned their attention to the new arrival.

Gavin.

The man stood there with his gun aimed, his shoulders rising and falling with his heavy breaths. Nines had to take a moment to register what just happened.

"Gavin?" He asked, confusion woven into his tone. It was obvious that Gavin had followed him there, and he couldn't have been more grateful that he decided to do so, or he would've been ripped to pieces.

The other man was right, he did make stupid decisions.

But that's why he had Gavin to help him out, a man as equally reckless and stupid at moments. They balanced each other out well.

The other man shook the questioning off, motioning towards the hungry creatures with his gun, "I'll distract these assholes, get what you need, I've got your back."

Nines made eye contact with him for a short moment before nodding, moving to return to his previous task. He was worried for Gavin. It was going to be a difficult task taking on that many of the infected at once. But that gave him a reason to get himself patched up as quickly as possible, so he could help before anything bad could happen.

With a newly found energy, he was able to get one of the crates opened up, and was lucky to find exactly what he needed. He tossed the plastic shard somewhere, and took a compatible biocomponent from the crate, inserting it into the space in his arm where it belonged. He could feel his system slowly calm down from having an important piece missing for so long, and the blaring red of a indicating a missing biocomponent finally disappeared from his vision. He was able to find an abundance of thirium, shoving some of the bags into his pockets just in case something like this happened again. He hastily put the needed amount of thirium back into his system, the sluggishness he felt once before washing away with ease.

He could move his arm again, and his thirium levels were back at an optimal percentage.

He felt so fucking relieved.

He heard two gunshots echo throughout the city, and he turned to look for Gavin, but didn't see him in the nearby area. He was able put together that the man had lured the creatures away from him, but he was nowhere to be found.

He could see where Gavin had went though, putting his investigative skills to work, he quickly followed the bloodstained footprints that had appeared in his vision.

"Fuck!" He heard the yell and another gunshot, this time closer than before. It prompted him to move faster.

That didn't sound good.

The sight he found at the end of those footprints wasn't one he ever excepted to see. He froze in his tracks, staring at the other male with wide and scared eyes.

There was Gavin slumped over on the ground, his back against a wall. His hand was shakily holding a bloodied shoulder. His gun was resting on the ground next to him, and the last of the creatures were dead, but it was clear that he was injured, which wasn't good at all.

"Gavin..." Nines's voice trailed off. He wanted to deny the sight in front of him. He wanted to deny it, go back home and act like everything was perfectly fine. But the facts were so clearly in front of him.

"Hey Nines," Gavin replied through gritted teeth, looking up at him with a solemn expression.

It seemed that Gavin wanted to deny it too.

"They..." Nines started to speak, scared of his own words. It was like a confirmation that everything was real, all too real, and there was no turning back, "They got you, didn't they?"

"Fuckin' bitch decided I was a good meal," Gavin nodded towards one of the fallen bodies, grimacing as he attempted to readjust his position. Nines was quick to stop him from moving, giving the other a domineering look.

They fell silent after that. It seemed that neither of them knew what to say. The scene in front of them just said it all for them. They were aware of the consequences if something like this ever happened, they had discussed it one night, but he didn't think it would ever happen. Nines didn't want to think about it.

Gavin reached for the lone gun, and put it in Nines's hand.

"You remember what you promised me, right?" Gavin asked, "Don't you dare pull the same stunt Connor did when this shit happened to Anderson. You're staying alive, and making it Chicago, you understand?"

Nines nodded, unable to form any meaningful words. His gaze dropped down the the gun in his hands, feeling wet tears forming in his eyes.

Oh.

That was new.

"Nines, look at me," Gavin said, his voice soft, almost pleading with him. He couldn't help but obey the command.

"We are going to be okay, you even said it yourself a couple of days ago. They are probably out there working on a cure," The man reminded him.

Nines silently nodded again.

"C'mon, say something you idiot."

There were so many things Nines wanted to say, it was such a broad and vast topic. A million thoughts filled his head at the words, unable to sort through them and find the correct one to say. There was his internalized doubts about a cure, his fear of being alone through this, and so much more that he wanted to explain.

But the thing that came out of his mouth was, "I'm sorry I wasn't fast enough."

Gavin laughed, it was light and airy, full of disbelief, "Hey, shit happens when you decide to play hero... I guess I haven't learned my lesson from watching you."

Nines smiled sadly, cold tears beginning to make their way down his face, "I guess you're right."

Silence settled over them once again.

"Do me a favor, and don't ever blame this on yourself," Gavin spoke up, resting his head against the wall behind him. Blood was now soaking the other's clothes, the injury was obviously a lot worse than Gavin was letting off. But he wasn't going to say anything.

"Okay," Nines agreed, though it wasn't a sure promise. He paused for a moment before asking, "Can I-... Can I stay here just a little while longer?"

"Yeah, of course."

"We are going to be okay?"

"Yeah, we're going to be just fine."


End file.
